My wife and I have just returned from Savannah, having been conned into visiting by our daughter who did not want to spend money on attending a bachelorette party in Hilton Head for only one day without getting more for her buck. So she suggested that we meet up with her in Savannah for a longish weekend. Sounded like a plan and better yet there was Mom and Dad to pick up the hotel, meal and tour tab. We didn't raise no fool as the saying goes.
A very moving statue on River Street depicts the rending of a slave family by sale. The inscription on the base by Maya Angelou is terribly poignant, for it is clear that many people have come there to rub the lettering in the manner of a gravestone rubbing. Probably never before was I able to understand the pain Black Americans feel for that indignity as I did in watching Black Americans come to that monument. Two middle aged women went and sat near by , one of whom began to cry, after viewing the statue. The story as it is told said that a plantation with financial problems sold over 200 slaves in a single auction. The plantation was one of the largest in the region and the slaves all were part of nuclear families. Few other plantations could afford that many slaves and the slaves were sold individually, husbands and wives were forced apart, they were severed from their children. Brothers and sisters were never to see each other again. The legacy of the barbarity of slavery still cast a great pall over our race relations. I can't help but wonder if the destabilization of families has lead to the
problematic family structure seen within Black communities today. That is a question best left to the social scientist, but for me it was an insight into a dismal time of our history.
But unrevealed to us until we got there was the fact that our daughter, an avid reader from an early age, was a Garden of Good and Evil Groupie. I guess the story is riveting - which of course lead to its success. But ever since publication fans of the book have been flocking to Savannah to see the places mentioned within the book. Our daughter being amongst these had us do the same. Having not read the book put me at some disadvantage, however the tours of the town brought us into the historic downtown district, where we were suitably delighted.
We were delighted by the squares for which the city is famous, the fountains, the statuary, the architectural details and the charming blend of color and Spanish Moss. The museums, the young college students (Savannah College of Art and Design figures prominently in the City), the restaurants and shops. Savannah has apparently transformed itself on the back of tourism and they readily acknowledge that the book as it is called there brings people in from all over.
If you ever get the chance, by all means, do visit. For my part I am going to read the book.